Category: Doreen

Never Saw You Coming by Erin Hahn

I admit that I flinched a little when I read the blurb for this on receiving the Wednesday Books circular. How much would I, a progressive Muslim, find in common with a bunch of evangelical Christian church kids? Apparently, quite a lot! I’m glad I put my trust in Wednesday Books on this: when they …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/10/never-saw-you-coming-by-erin-hahn/

Malika: Warrior Queen Volume 1 by Roye Okupe, Chima Kalu & Raphael Kazeem

What a fantastic way to kick off the YouNeek YouNiverse, an interrelated set of fantasy, sci-fi and superhero comics and properties from an African perspective! The first volume of Malika: Warrior Queen tells the story of a 15th century ruler, who she was and how she was shaped by the battles that rent and threatened …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/09/malika-warrior-queen-volume-1-by-roye-okupe-chima-kalu-raphael-kazeem/

An Interview with Fran Dorricott, author of The Final Child

Q. First off, congratulations on your second book! How was the experience of writing The Final Child different from writing your debut, After The Eclipse? A. Thank you! Honestly, writing The Final Child was a lot of fun. To me it feels a little grittier, a little slower in terms of tempo, and I liked …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/08/an-interview-with-fran-dorricott-author-of-the-final-child/

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

It’s weird how Silvia Moreno-Garcia is so hit or miss for me. Perhaps it’s because I didn’t start with the books which made her famous, and which I still really want to read. Instead, I’ve hopped around her timeline somewhat, based on what was available to me, and can safely say that her newer works …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/07/certain-dark-things-by-silvia-moreno-garcia/

Enola Holmes And The Black Barouche (Enola Holmes #7) by Nancy Springer

Who’s ready for a brand new story arc in the Enola Holmes universe? As we swiftly discover in the opening pages of this latest installment of the series, Enola has reconciled with her brothers and is living as an independent Consulting Perditologist in London. However, she’s dismayed that her brothers, famous old Sherlock and Mycroft, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/09/03/enola-holmes-and-the-black-barouche-enola-holmes-7-by-nancy-springer/

Marty by Rachel Noble & Zoey Abbott

I got really emotional finishing up this affecting picture book, in a way that my kids understandably didn’t. As an open borders absolutist, many of this book’s gentle lessons were old hat to me, but they were presented in such a manner as to remind me of the constant tension between truth and assimilation, that …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/08/27/marty-by-rachel-noble-zoey-abbott/

The Loud House #13: Lucy Rolls the Dice by The Loud House Creative Team

Ha, how fitting that I should read this right as I’m running my kids through their very first tabletop roleplaying game campaign! In the thirteenth volume of The Loud House series, based on the hit Nickelodeon show, whole families get involved in playing Orks, Horks, Wizards, And Pork (or OHWP, for short) after Lynn Loud …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/08/24/the-loud-house-13-lucy-rolls-the-dice-by-the-loud-house-creative-team/

Hero Kids by Justin Halliday

After a decade of seeming indifference to my role-playing hobby, my eldest child suddenly asked me one day if we could play “Magick And Monsters.” This was probably prompted by his recent re-read of Book Two of the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid series, Rodrick Rules. Plus he’s been watching me game master one of …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/08/23/hero-kids-by-justin-halliday/

Songbirds by Christy Lefteri

Exceptionally moving novel that spotlights the harms of a practice that most people don’t even like to think about. I can seriously say that in all my years of reading, I’ve encountered maybe one entire other work of fiction that’s addressed this issue with honesty and compassion, Ovidia Yu’s terrific Meddling And Murder. That said, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/08/19/songbirds-by-christy-lefteri/

Redemptor (Raybearer #2) by Jordan Ifueko

So much story, so little book! It seems churlish to demand more from what’s already a terrific novel, but I really do feel that the tale of Empress Redemptor Tarisai and the land of Aritsar would have been better served by more chapters and more details. 300+ pages simply wasn’t enough, and so much felt …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/08/17/redemptor-raybearer-2-by-jordan-ifueko/